Keith Raniere's multi-level marketing company would entrap women, so they forked over sensitive information about themselves, before abusing them.
Trigger warning: Child abuse and trafficking
Some crimes are so heinous that the justice system ensures that those people never get out of prison again. Cult leader Keith Raniere, the founder of the multi-level marketing company NXIVM, was convicted on multiple counts in 2019 by a jury in Brooklyn federal court. Finally, he's been sentenced and it looks like he's never coming out of prison. He was sentenced to 120 years in prison for racketeering, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of a child, and human trafficking.
US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said that the crimes of Keither were "cruel, perverse, and extremely serious." "Despite everything that has happened and despite the countless victims who have given voice to their great pain, Mr. Raniere remains unmoved. Indeed, he maintains his innocence," the judge said, as per CNN. "To him, the brave victims who have spoken out about the abuse suffered at his hands–including those who spoke today–are liars."
The 60-year-old cult leader used his multi-level marketing (MLM) company to entrap women and forced them to have intercourse with him. Apart from him, actress Allison Mack of Smallville fame was named as a co-conspirator. She ensnared India Oxenberg, 29, daughter of Dynasty soap star Catherine Oxenberg and granddaughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, into the program when she was only 19.
"I was investing all this time and energy into something that I couldn’t make work," India said, according to Pagesix. "I felt completely desperate," she added.
Posing as a self-help program, the leaders would ask women who wanted to climb the ladder in the organization, to share compromising details about themselves or their family.
"[Mack] said, ‘I have something that could be really great for you, I think it could really help,'" recalled India. "She really made it sound like she had the answer like she had what I needed," she added.
Keith would brand the women with his initials and would force many of them to starve themselves until they reached his preferred look for them, and Mack aided him in all of this. "She was especially interested in the things I felt uncomfortable with that were sexual or that felt intimate," recalled India, who addressed Allison as "Master."
The system promoted by the Smallville actress was meant to be an elite group of women helping each other grow. However, Allison said that the group had a "master-slave dynamic," and the girl from the royal family of Yugoslavia would need her permission for everything. This is only one of the many individuals affected by Keith's MLM company.
The Dynasty actress, who wrote a book about saving her daughter from the group, said the sentence "is a victory on so many levels," according to People. "Tragically, he abused and exploited my own beloved daughter and countless others."
Only a monster would discredit his victims.. remorseful for what? himself? Typical sociopath https://t.co/wlEkygOFJO
— Catherine Oxenberg (@catoxenberg) October 27, 2020
"My faith in the justice system is renewed. Keith can no longer use his power, privilege, and access to unlimited wealth to silence and abuse his victims. He has been held accountable for his crimes. I am so grateful to the court, the many branches of government who helped take him down, especially EDNY [US District Court, Eastern District of NY] and FBI. The world is a safer place with Keith Raniere behind bars for the next 120 years," she added.
References:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/27/us/nxivm-keith-raniere-sentencing-supporters/index.html
https://pagesix.com/2020/10/26/how-allison-mack-convinced-india-oxenberg-to-become-her-nxivm-slave/
https://people.com/crime/catherine-oxenberg-reacts-to-nxivm-leader-keith-raniere-sentencing/
